POLITICO Brexit Files: Reading between the lines — Where should I vote? — Calling all Natalies

— Britain’s exit from the EU didn’t make it into the list of “five giant challenges” facing the U.K., which formed the backbone of the 84-page Conservative Party manifesto. But the impending divorce with Brussels stalks almost every chapter — from the future of the U.K. economy and Britain’s place in the world to the fight against terrorism, Scottish independence and deficit reduction, write Tom McTague and Charlie Cooper. POLITICO has also compared May’s manifesto with David Cameron’s pitch to the country in 2015 (see Insight, below).

— The British economy needs net immigration of 200,000 people a year,double the Conservatives’ target, to avoid the “catastrophic economic consequences” of Brexit, a study published today by employer-backed think tank Global Future says. The report attributes this to the U.K.’s low productivity, aging population and shortage of labor in key areas, such as the NHS.

— Not everything is about Brexit. The Labour bastion of Liverpool could turn Tory in the June election, but those switching to Theresa May’s party have high expectations from the new government. And the hard realities of post-Brexit economics are bound to make these difficult to realize for the Conservatives, writes Charlie Cooper.

INSIGHT

Flying under the radar on page 35 of the Conservative manifesto was a policy for the U.K. regions that could open a new chapter of Brexit infighting.

If elected on June 8, a Conservative government would create a U.K. Shared Prosperity Fund to replace the EU-wide structural funds that target poorer areas to reduce inequalities. All well and good, but the manifesto writers couldn’t resist a dig at the EU, claiming that EU structural funding has been “expensive to administer and poorly targeted.”

That came as news to many in devolved and local government around the U.K.

Poorer regions like Merseyside and Cornwall have benefitted greatly from EU funding, while the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland have also received billions in EU money.

Now a row is brewing over whether Labour-run local authorities in England, or the devolved administrations, will have confidence in a Tory government (assuming May wins the election) to dish out these funds more fairly than the EU.

“Given the Tories’ ideological obsession with austerity, they can’t be trusted to replicate EU structural funds, which currently help some of the most deprived parts of the country,” said Stephen Gethins, who was the SNP’s Europe spokesperson in Westminster until parliament’s dissolution for the election campaign.

Regional government officials in the Labour-dominated north of England, who will have more clout under new metro-mayoralties in Merseyside and Greater Manchester, are also concerned.

“Instead of an impartial body deciding where this money goes, you’ll have a Tory government that’s likely to have a very large majority and that we know is not as keen on devolution as the last government,” said one senior regional government official in the North. “I think there will be concerns about whether we in the North will still get our fair share.”

The manifesto pledges a consultation with devolved administrations and local authorities about where the funding goes.

But it’s an example of how, for the U.K. government, new powers after Brexit will come with new opportunities for their opponents to tell them how they’re doing it wrong.

— Despite their absence from the stage, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Tory PM Theresa May cast long shadows over the first party leaders’ TV debate of the election campaign. They were attacked by the Liberal Democrat, Scottish National Party, Green and Plaid Cymru leaders for shunning the event. UKIP’s Paul Nuttall was the only pro-Brexit voice.

— Countries seeking a trade deal with the EU should meet European standards on labor law and fair competition, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager told the Guardian. She also stressed that the EU’s deal with the U.K. would be different from the one it struck with Canada.

— Staff at the European Banking Authority are expected to take part in a survey later this year on whether they would be willing to relocate along with the agency, or if they would simply quit as a result of the move from London after Brexit. But ultimately, the EBA has very little say over its future destination; it’s up to EU governments to agree on the watchdog’s new home.

— EU countries Thursday approved the creation of a fund for joint military projects as part of a push for greater integration on defense, partly spurred on by Brexit. At least 19 countries — including France, Germany, Italy and Spain — will start talks on the fund next month and it could be up and running sometime next year.

— If the U.K. is planning to use its security clout as a Brexit bargaining chip it had better think again, according to the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini. “The UK is an important foreign policy, security and defence player but nothing compared to the other 27 together. So there is no trade-off imaginable,” the Guardian reported her as saying.

— A U.K. exit from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme before 2020 “would have severe implications for companies both in the EU and the U.K.,”IETA, the business group promoting the use of carbon pricing policies, wrote in a letter to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier Thursday. The group wants an agreement that British companies will continue participating in the scheme.

— Eighty-three percent of Britons admit they are concerned about price hikes in goods and services, while 59 percent are most worried about the soaring cost of groceries, according to a poll for Mintel’s 27th annual British Lifestyles report. The slump in the value of sterling following the Brexit vote last June has pushed up the prices of imports, especially of food and clothing.

— Pro-Europe campaigner Gina Miller is sending tailored Facebook ads to voters in dozens of Labour and Conservative seats as part of her tactical voting campaign to boost the number of pro-remain MPs in the next parliament and prevent a hard Brexit. On Wednesday, the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, launched an investigation into the practice.

— Where should you vote to have the most impact on the election? That’s the question answered by a new non-partisan web tool for students (who can choose to vote at either their home or university address) created by Explaain. It also shows would-be voters how to register. “[We] don’t give a $#!% how you vote, we just care that you turn up,” say its creators.

— May and Corbyn may have skipped ITV’s election debate but good old Paul Nuttall of UKIP was there to liven things up. On two separate occasions he called Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood “Natalie.” Rumors that it’s UKIP policy for all Welsh women to be renamed Natalie were unconfirmed at the time of going to press.